Excavating apparatus.



PATENTED MAY 26, 1903.

A. J. MASON.

EXCAVATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

m: mmms vnzns co, Puma-Lune, wAsmnsmu. u c,

UNITED STATES resented IVIay 26, was.

PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR J. MASON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONEI-IALF TC FRANK K. HOOVER, OF-CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

EXCAVATING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 729,195, dated May as, 19052 Application filed November 22; 1902. Serial N0- 132.86Z- (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ARTHUR J. MASON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Excavating Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in excavating apparatus of that class or type commonly known as clam-shell buckets, which are ordinarily swung from a derrickboom or other support andby means of power transferred from a hoisting-engine by cables or chains may at the will of the operator be lowered or raised, opened or shut, and so constructed and arranged that in their closing operations they may grasp the material to be handled, whether earth, stone, coal, ore, lumber, or any other material. In Letters Patent granted July 30, 1901, to Frank K. Hoover and Arthur J. Mason, No. 679,475, is shown a scoop or bucket of this type, upon which my present invention is more particularly based, although it is equally applicable to any other form of scoop or bucket characterized by the provision of main side arms or levers so formed and arranged in the apparatus as to present parts or portions which come togetherinthe relative movement of the arms,

while other portions simultaneously diverge,

and Vica verse. In the device shown in the aforesaid patent a somewhat elaborate and complicated arrangement of devices in the general nature of oppositely-disposed toggles is employed in connection with the openinglines to effect the opening of the bucket, the parts of which are connected to crossed principal lever-arms.

My present invention has to do with a greatly-simplified form and construction of opening means which does away entirely with the toggle devices applied to the opposite sides of the bucket, as shown and described in the aforesaid patent.

In the accompanying drawings, which represent an illustrative embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the apparatus, the closed position of the trays and their operating mechanism being shown in full lines and the open position of the same being indicated in dotted lines; and

pivotally mounted at their upper ends upon a central shaft 3 and at their lower ends pivotall y connected, as at 4, with the trays 1 near the forward ends of the latter. These arms 2 have the curved and substantially S-shaped formation shown in the drawings, whereby it will be observed that they cross each other between their points of pivotal connection with each other and with the trays somewhat after the fashion of a pair of shears. The heel or rear portions of the trays are indicated at 5 in the form ofa pairofshort rearwardlyextending arms, and 6indicatesapairof auxiliary arms, which are pivoted at their lower or outer ends to the heels 5 of the trays and at their inner or upper ends to the proximate or adjacent portions of the oppositely-disposed principal lever-arms 2, respectively. By reason of this peculiar form of the principal lever-arms and the described connection and arrangement of the auxiliary arms 6 relatively-to the trays and the principal leverarms 2 a very wide opening and a peculiar travel and operation of the trays is secured, which is fully set forth and described in the aforesaid patent and constitutes no featur of my present invention. The means for closing the trays and causing the latter to gather their load consists of a closing-cable 7, the upper end of which is in practice passed over a derrick-boom to a suitable winding-drum or equivalenthoisting apparatus, while the lower end of the cable is led around a suitable guide-sheave 8, mounted in a bracket or hanger 9, hung on the main pivotal shaft 3, said cable passing thence around suitable guide-sheaves l0 and 11 on the principal lever-arms near the lower ends thereof and below their point of crossing, the end of the cable being secured to one of said arms. From the'de'scribed manner of connecting the closing-cable to the arms it will be observed that the weight of the apparatus applied to the closing-cable will automatically tend to draw together the lower ends of the principal lever-arms, thereby bringing the cutting and gathering edges of the trays into contact and will hold said trays securely in closed position during the transfer of the load.

Referring now to the means for effecting the automatic opening of the trays when the weight of the apparatus is applied to the opening-lines, 12 indicates a transverse shaft extending between and connecting the upper portions of corresponding members of the principal lever arms above their point of crossing. On each of said shafts 12, on either side of the apparatus, is mounted a pair of guide-sheaves 13 and 14, respectively, while on each end of the main pivotal shaft 3 is hung a hanger or bracket 15, in which is mounted a guide-sheave 16, corresponding in function to the guide-sheave 8 for the closingline.

17 indicates the opening-line on each side of the apparatus, the upper end of which extends over the derrick-boom to a suitable winding-drum or equivalent lowering and hoisting apparatus, thelower end of said opening-line passing in contact with the guidesheave 16, thence downand around the guidesheaves 13 or 14, as the casemaybe, and being secured at its end to one ofthe transverse shafts 12.

It is obvious from the described connection of the opening-line to the principal leverarms of the scoop that the weight of the latter when applied to the opening-line will tend to automaticallydraw together the upper portions of the principal lever-arms lying above their point ot'crossing, which by virtue of the fact that said arms intersect each other be tween their pivotal connection with the shaft 3 and'their connections with their respective trays eifects a'simultaneous separation and divergence 'of the lower portions of the principal lever-arms and of the trays directly connected thereto.

It will of course be understood that the described parts and their relative connections as shown in side elevation in Fig. 1 and as hereinabove largely described in the singular are exactly duplicated on the opposite sides of the apparatus, said parts on the opposite sides of the device being rigid ly united transversely through the bodies of the trays themselves, which of course are integral from side to side, and through the main pivotal shaft 3, as well as through the intermediate transverse shafts 12, where the latter are employed, as herein shown. It will be obvious,

however, that in some forms of scoops adapted for light work and not subjected to the severest strains the intermediate transverse shafts l2 mightbe dispensed with, the auxiliaryarms 6 and the guide-sheaves 13 and 14 being pivotally and rotatably mounted directly on the inner or outer faces of the principal lever-arms.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the principle of my invention resides in the employment of principal lever-arms so formed and related to each other and so connected with the main pivotal shaft and theirrespective buckets as that while certain respective parts of these arms swing outwardly in the opening or closing operation other respective parts of said arms simultaneously swing inwardly in the same operations and the connecting of one of said respective portions of the arms so as to be drawn together by the closing-lines and the similar connecting of the other respective parts of said arms so as to be drawn together by the opening-lines. I do not, therefore, limit my invention to the particular form or arrangement of the mechanism shown in the drawings, which is illustrative merely of my invention, so long as the underlying principle thereof as above defined is retained.

I claim 1. In an excavating apparatus of the type described, the combination with a pair of crossed principal lever-arms, and trays connected thereto at their lower ends, of an opening-line extending between and connecting said arms above their crossing-point and tending to draw the lower portions of the arms and the trays apart, substantially as described.

2. In an excavating apparatus of the type described, the combination with a pair of crossed principal lever-arms, and trays connected thereto, of a closing-line extending between said arms on one side of their crossingpoint and operating thereon to draw the trays together, andan opening-line extending between said arms on the other side of said crossing-point and tending to draw the trays apart, substantially as described.

3. In an excavating apparatus of the type described, the combination with a pair of crossed principal lever-arms pivotally united at their upper ends,and trays connected there to at their lower ends, of a closing-line connecting said arms on one side of their crossing-point and operating thereon to draw the trays together, and an opening-line connecting said arms on the other side of their crossin g-point and tending to draw the trays apart, substantially as described.

4. In an excavating apparatus of the type described, the combination with a pair of crossed principal lever-arms pivotally united at their upper ends, and trays connected thereto at their lower ends, of auxiliary arms pivotally connected with the trays and with said principal lever-arms, a closing-line connecting said principal arms below their crossing-point and operating to draw the lower portions of said arms and the trays together, and an opening-line connecting said arms above their crossing-point and tending to draw the upper portions of said arms together and the trays apart, substantially as described.

5. In an excavating apparatus of the type described, the combination with a pair of crossed principal lever-arms pivotally united at their upper ends, and trays connected thereto at their lower ends, of auxiliary arms pivotally connected with said trays in rear of the connection of the principal arms thereto and to the opposite principal arms, a closingline connecting said principal arms below their crossing-point, and an opening-line connecting said arms above their crossing-point, substantially as described.-

6. In an excavating apparatus of the type described, the combination with a pair of substantially S-shaped principal lever-arms tially as described.

ARTHUR J. MASON. Witnesses:

EDW. A. WELLER, E. K. SCOTT. 

